Crew Log for April 6th – April 7th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• St. Augustine – Cumberland Island
• Trip Distance of 59.7 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 3,609.8 NM
Sometimes you try and do everything right, discuss every possible option, obsess over the data and the proverbial crap still hits the fan. Such was the case with our departure from St. Augustine. We’ve all heard the expression, “…red sky in morning, sailors take warning…”. Well, that expression will forever ring in my head. I only wish I had paid more attention to it.
Regular blog readers will know, we don’t have the same lust for St. Augustine as millions of others do, which clearly puts us in the minority. We certainly don’t hate it, but it’s not on our bucket list of places to return to any time soon either.
There is a strong tidal current that rips through the marina docks and mooring field. We analyzed the current data and decided to delay our departure close to slack tide. While we waited and for what seemed like an hour, I stared at the dock lines and watched how the currents flowed past the boat. We talked about how we would release the lines and how we’d exit the slip.
We pushed off and immediately something didn’t feel right. As soon as the last line was released I had the boat moving backwards when suddenly it skidded sideways and slammed us broadside into wooden mooring post. Luckily, Pierre on Ocean Star 7 was quick to react and pushed us off the post as we inched our way forward. While I was concerned about the boat, my main concern was not to have Pierre fall into the water pushing us off.
We had been to the Visitors Center at the Kennedy Space Center a few days before. Of all the displays, the one that made my heart pound the most, was when a large door opened and there was the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was a dramatic moment to see Atlantis, who flew 33 missions and travelled over 125 million miles and orbited the earth more than 4,800 times. She was battered and scarred from her adventures, but still, she was an amazing site to see.
Well, while poor old Elizabeth M has had fewer missions and far fewer miles under her keel, she bears the scars of a tough battle. It is all cosmetic and all repairable, but we still feel terrible over what we have put this poor boat through. We don’t joke about it very much, but when we do, we point out that at least most of the scars are on one side, so fortunately we only have to repair the port side. Until then, we just have to make sure people look at her good side!
Not that there is any good news when your temporary home and boat get slammed into a post, but the rising tide meant we’d have a nice push up to Jacksonville. If I am being completely honest, there is very little of this section of the ICW that is memorable. The first section, just north of St. Augustine is quiet and peaceful and the rest is one large home after another, each seeming to be more ostentatious than it’s neighbor.
Oddly, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of life around most of them, and if there is, it is usually a trades person or a lawn maintenance employee. My impression, which is unfairly harsh and quite possibly inaccurate, as these properties serve more as monuments of wealth, then they do serving as a “family home”. Let’s just say, I would have appreciated a few kayaks laying about, or bikes parked in the driveway, or anything else to signal there is life in the neighborhood.
Our departure from St. Augustine was still fresh on our minds when we had to negotiate our entrance into the Jax Beach Marina. I slowly and carefully started to make the turn off the ICW and into the narrow channel, between a deck full of people having happy hour at the fish restaurant, and the marina full of very expensive boats. To add to the challenge, a couple of small boats were coming out of the channel, which in my mind is analogous to putting a sand or water trap in front of a golf green. It’s hard enough as it is, without adding more hazards.
As the boat started its turn, I realized we were actually sliding sideways down the ICW. It was no time to be timid, so we accelerated forward into the channel and out of the current. Once we were in the marina, the dockmaster told us we would be on the face dock. That was good news. Between a trawler and another very large boat. Bad news. We collected ourselves and calmly paralleled parked the boat with very little fanfare.
We filled the boat with diesel and water and headed off to the grocery store. Our first Uber driver just got off work at the cosmetic surgery clinic where she is a nurse. She assured us, cosmetic surgery in the US was a “good business”, but she just liked to make some extra cash driving for Uber on her way home from work. Our ride home was in a Toyota Prius Hybrid, which not only held all our groceries, but seemed to be a good choice for Uber drivers.
The forecast in a couple of days was not looking good. In fact, there were several days of gale force winds out of the north east and everyone with any amount of good sense was headed for cover. We had a reservation at Jekyll Island Marina in a couple of days, but before that, we wanted to make one last quick stop at Cumberland Island. If you haven’t read our Cumberland Island post from the trip down here, go back and have a read and look at the pictures from this uniquely, beautiful part of the world.
I won’t repeat the details from our first post, other than to say, Cumberland not only has an interesting history, it is also the last undeveloped barrier island along the Georgia Coast and maybe even along the entire eastern US Coast. It has one of the most spectacular beaches we have ever walked on, and the live oaks covered in Spanish moss are mesmerizingly beautiful. And of course, there are wild horses and armadillos.
Our trip from Jacksonville to Cumberland was tiring given we had strong tidal currents against us for most of the day. It seems silly to think of current against us as tiring, given the boat is doing all the work. However, progress was slow, despite pushing the engine as hard as we dared.
What wasn’t slow was mv Anodyne, who gracefully glided passed us on route from St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach on the south side of the St. Mary’s River. She was undoubtably laughing at the opposing current. That said, our pace gave Judy lots of time to make, and for us to enjoy, fresh blueberry scones.
As we made our way towards the anchorage at Cumberland Island, the first thing we noticed, was there were no other boats here. It is weird. We love the peacefulness and simplicity of an uncrowded anchorage, yet the minute there is no one else here, our thoughts immediately wonder, “what do they know that we don’t”. Well, we had been on the move since early in the morning and we only had what remained of the afternoon to explore Cumberland for one last time, so off we went.
There were signs clearly telling people not to anchor within 100 yards of the docks, which apparently have still not been repaired from Hurricane Nicole. We of course played the, “…oh we’re from Canada and don’t know how big a yard is card…”. Stupid as it sounds, it worked. Rather than wading through shin deep muck, we pulled the dinghy up on a concrete boat ramp, a few feet…errr…meters from the dock. The Park Staff even reminded us to make sure our anchor was well set, since the tide was on it’s way in. In our defense, it was late in the day on a Friday. While the staff said it would be a problem any other time through the week, it would be fine to dock our dinghy there today.
We walked the width of the island over to the beach, past the Carnegie Mansion ruins. The ruins are oddly beautiful and I still am amazed at the scale of the home and surrounding buildings. The history of the place has become a bit of an obsession for both Judy and I.
Back at the anchorage we had company, although mostly trawlers, aka “loopers” and no one we recognized. We were headed to Jekyll Island in the morning which has its own unique history and is a fascinating success story.
But more about that, next time.
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